The Unforgettable Oscar Moment

March 13, 2017

Even if you didn’t watch this year’s Oscars, you definitely know how it ended. Before 33 million viewers, the show business musical motion picture, “La La Land”, was named the 89th Academy Awards Best Picture winner BY MISTAKE! The category’s correct winner, “Moonlight”, didn’t even have their moment to shine until the next two shocking minutes unfolded. “La La Land” producers gleefully took the stage to accept what they thought to believe their Oscar and began giving their round of acceptance speeches before the correct envelope materialized and “Moonlight” was announced the actual winner. It was one of the most surprising reversals in Oscar history unfolding on live television. “I’m holding the envelope and the award, and I had just given my speech, and there are people on the stage with headsets and I thought, ‘that doesn’t seem right,’ one of the “La La Land” producers recalled. It was clear the entire room of Hollywood bigwigs were mortified. Exactly what actually happened in those brief but unforgettable moments leading up to the whopping mistake are still not completely clear, but two names are, Brain Cullinan and Martha Ruiz. The two accounts of PwC, Cullinan and Ruiz, had one job that night; hand the proper envelope to the presenter. Cullinan handed Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway the Best Actress in a Leading Role envelope to present the Best Picture Oscar. The domino effect found Dunaway announcing the wrong Best Picture winner. Needless to say, Cullinan and Ruiz have been banned from the Academy Awards forever and we witnessed a glimpse of the disgrace that is becoming of the industry.

BACK TO BLOG